All In The (Furuba) Family
by sakayume
Summary: Shigure has suggested yet another Sohma family vacation despite (violent) protests from certain members.
1. Prologue

All In The (Furuba) Family  
  
Prologue  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What?!?!"  
  
All eyes in the room focussed on Shigure. He smirked and played with his fan. He had just suggested going on a 'family retreat' (though of course Tohru was invited) to one of the Sohma family's chalets for a week of the summer holidays. He had not expected their reaction to be quite so. extreme.  
  
"Again?" Yuki asked doubtfully. Truth to tell, he was not looking forward to the upcoming 'family retreat' after what had happened during the last one. That they would go, was a certainty, but only after much protest on his part and Kyou's. Kyou's especially. He looked over to see how the Cat was taking it.  
  
"No way! I'm not going on another holiday with you two perverts!" Kyou jumped up shouting and pointing. A vein popped in his forehead.  
  
The two 'perverts', namely Shigure and Ayame merely smirked. Hatori sighed and sweatdropped.  
  
"I've already settled it with Akito!" Shigure announced cheerfully. "He wanted to come along too-"  
  
Yuki paled.  
  
"But something else came up so he's staying here," Shigure finished.  
  
Everyone else breathed sighs of relief, although Tohru looked decidedly guilty for harbouring such feelings.  
  
Kyou took the opportunity of the brief moment of silence to storm out of the room. The door slammed shut behind him. Tohru looked after him worriedly and would have gone after him had Yuki, sitting beside her, placed a hand on her shoulder. She had to content herself with looking concerned.  
  
Hatori frowned, "Is this another of your schemes to torment your publisher?"  
  
Shigure faked a hurt look. "Ha-san, how can you say that? I just wanted to spend time with you and A-ya!" the look vanished to be replaced with laughter. "And of course Tohru-san and Kyou and Yuki!"  
  
Hatori shook his head.  
  
"Aww. 'Gure, I'm so touched." Ayame batted his eyelashes at Shigure.  
  
The remaining two teenagers looked as though they did not know which way to look. Yuki had a 'see no evil, hear no evil' look on his face, and Tohru was looking. embarrassed and confused. Her face was red and she was blinking rapidly.  
  
"Ne, Tohru-san, you will come, won't you?" Ayame smiled charismatically at her. Yuki was sorely tempted to bash him, older brother or not.  
  
Tohru's face became even redder, if that was possible. "Demo. but we just went on holiday. I shouldn't." she stuttered.  
  
Ayame's expression changed. He looked down at her with large shimmery eyes and mourned, "But the last time Tori-san wouldn't let me go."  
  
"Don't manipulate her!" Yuki glared at his brother and the smiling Shigure. He suspected that the real reason they had invited her along too was so that there was someone to cook and clean.  
  
Ayame ignored his brother and continued sadly, "And I really wanted to come with you people."  
  
Completely falling for the act, Tohru hastily agreed to go. Ayame grinned happily and proceeded to try and glomp the girl. Try being the operative word, as no sooner had he taken a step forward than Yuki had thrown him out of the room. The shoji screen now had an Ayame sized hole in the middle of it.  
  
Shigure stared mournfully at his screen. "I'm taking that out of your account."  
  
Hatori only sighed and massaged his temples. His headache had just gotten worse.  
  
Shigure turned towards Yuki, "But you're going right, Yuki?"  
  
"Umm." Yuki tried in vain to think up of a plausible excuse. He knew that he would end up going, and so would Kyou. If only to keep Tohru safe from the two perverts otherwise known as his brother and the Dog. Knowing that protest would only lengthen the time he had to spend in their presence, he smartly chose to agree immediately, although very reluctantly. "Hai."  
  
His reward was a huge smile from Tohru.  
  
Ayame had by this time crawled back to the room and on hearing the news enthusiastically glomped his younger brother. He was promptly booted out again.  
  
Shigure winced.  
  
Hatori pretended not to notice anything amiss.  
  
Tohru looked rather shocked.  
  
Yuki walked out of the room.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Outside the house, Yuki felt like banging his head against the wall.  
  
Another 'family retreat'. and after what happened during the last one, and the one before that. and in fact all the ones ever since Tohru had started living with them. In fact, he could not remember having such family events before she had come.  
  
But the point was, that they had all been disastrous. Especially when his brother appeared. Nobody invited him, he just turned up. Even though Yuki (and Kyou) had taken great pains to not alert him to the fact. Yuki suspected that Shigure had something to do with that.  
  
But for the sake of Tohru, he had to go. He just did not trust the Mabudachi trio with her. Or more accurately, Shigure and Ayame.  
  
Rounding the corner, he heard a dull thudding sound. As if something was repeatedly hitting the wall.  
  
It was Kyou. Banging his head against the wall.  
  
The Cat glared at him. "Why did you let her agree to go?!"  
  
Yuki took that to mean that Kyou had agreed as well. Which meant that either they had cornered him outside or he had gone back in. He shrugged, "I couldn't do anything. She agreed herself. Why are you blaming me?"  
  
Kyou glared back at him, snorted and walked off.  
  
Yuki noticed that the wall had a slight dent.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Hatori tried to ward off his splitting headache as Shigure and Ayame flirted outrageously with each other. As far as he could tell, Ayame had just decided to stay the night at Shigure's place and promised. not to let the Dog sleep the whole night.  
  
"Don't you two get sick of this?"  
  
They ignored his question. Or rather, their next actions were answer enough.  
  
Hatori was glad that Kyou, Yuki and Tohru were no where in sight.  
  
"Ne, Ha-san. why don't you stay too?" Shigure asked, leaning over.  
  
Hatori stood up abruptly, knocking the Dog's hand away, "I have to go now."  
  
With that, the doctor walked out of the house without so much as a backward glance. The Dog and the Snake watched him go silently.  
  
"Mou."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Author's notes: The idea just planted itself into my head and refused to get lost. I actually have other stuff to write! *wails* Oh well. I'm trying to make it humorous, but. As for in character, this is ning you're talking about. I try, but I think the characters are all OOC. Anyway, please tell me what you think about it! If you like it I'll continue. 


	2. Chapter One

**All In The (Furuba) Family**

_Chapter One_

* * * * *

Tohru was excited and very happy.

Tomorrow she would be going with Yuki, Kyou and the other Sohmas for a week at the Sohma family chalet. This would be her first time, and she was sure she would like it.

She hummed and smiled as she chopped the vegetables.

Hatori, Ayame, Hatsuharu and Momiji were coming for dinner tonight. She would cook something extra special.

Tohru moved onto the onions, still smiling despite the tears running down her cheeks.

She had bought an extra large fish from the market today because Kyou liked fish. It was probably because he was the Cat. Because Yuki liked cheese and he was the Rat.

In short, Tohru was overjoyed.

Footsteps sounded in the hall outside. A minute later, Kyou appeared at the doorway. Tohru gave him a wide smile.

¡§Ne, Kyou-kun, I bought your favourite fish today!¡¨ she showed it to him.

Kyou sweatdropped. It was the most enormous fish he had ever seen. ¡§Ano¡K why did you buy such a big one?!¡¨

Tohru smiled more, ¡§Because Hatori-san, Ayame-san, Hatsuharu and Momiji are coming for dinner!¡¨

¡§What?!?!¡¨ Kyou looked none too pleased. He turned and stormed out of the kitchen.

Tohru looked slightly worried.

¡§Kyou-kun!¡¨ she called after him, but he had disappeared up the stairs.

* * * * *

Tohru did not have much time to worry, however, as a moment later Shigure appeared in the doorway, grinning as usual. His smile widened slightly as he spotted her.

¡§Ne, Tohru-san, if you have time on the way to work, do you think you could pick up a few things for me?¡¨ the Dog asked, putting on his most charming expression. He fingered a small slip of paper in his hand.

Tohru beamed at him. ¡§Hai! What are they?¡¨

Shigure smirked, ¡§You¡¦ll see.¡¨

He handed over the slip of paper and sauntered out of the kitchen humming (off-tune) to himself. Not looking where he was going, he practically collided with Yuki. The boy stared at him suspiciously, ignoring all gestures from the man to protest his innocence.

Seeing that Yuki would not move till he found out what he wanted, the Dog sighed, ¡§I just came here to ask Tohru-san to help me buy some stuff on the way.¡¨

¡§Why can¡¦t you go yourself? Honda-san has work tonight.¡¨

¡§I have to finish that manuscript before my publisher comes screaming here again. You don¡¦t want what happened last week to happened again, would you?¡¨ Shigure asked.

Yuki¡¦s eyes widened a fraction. And he almost felt pity towards his cousin¡¦s poor publisher. Seeing her in action last week was enough to raise goose bumps on his skin. The woman was insane. And all because of his lazy cousin.

Tohru took the momentary lull in conversation as Yuki relived the horrifying event of last week to chirp, ¡§It¡¦s okay, Sohma-kun! I don¡¦t mind and I¡¦m not too busy. Besides, Shigure-san said it was important.¡¨

Yuki looked from Tohru¡¦s beaming face to Shigure¡¦s secretive, smugly smiling one. He was starting to get a bad feeling about the contents of that shopping list.

¡§What¡¦s so important about it?¡¨ Yuki glared at his cousin through narrowed eyes.

¡§It's a _secret_!¡¨ a self-satisfied expression pasted itself over the Dog¡¦s features. ¡§And no, I¡¦m not sharing.¡¨

Shigure proceeded to tap Yuki infuriatingly on the head with his fan and walked out of the room obliviously, almost bouncing.

Yuki fumed inwardly as he watched his overly happy cousin leave the kitchen, thus restoring peace and quiet to the room. Then he sighed. He wondered what tricks the perverted Dog had up his sleeve _this_ time. Considering that question, he decided that he would rather _not_ know. Ignorance was bliss after all.

¡§Sohma-kun, are you all right?¡¨ Tohru was peering at him concernedly.

Yuki realised that he had been unconsciously shaking his head.

* * * * *

¡§Tohru-san!¡¨ Ayame exclaimed at the girl standing in the doorway before him, and promptly rushed up to glomp her.

He had arrived a little late after closing his shop and leaving everything else in the capable hands of his maybe slightly demented shop assistant, Mine. From the sounds emitted from the dining room, it appeared as though everyone else was already present.

Tohru beamed at him. A second later, her smile disappeared as her eyes widened.

Poof.

Frantically, she slammed the door shut, praying fervently that nobody was walking past the house, which was unlikely, but one never knew.

A snake slithered out of the large pocket on the front of her apron. It winked at her.

* * * * *

Yuki and Kyou exchanged semi-worried glances from across the dining table.

Then realising just what they had done, they glared murderously at each other and looked away sharply. Shigure had to fight to prevent choking on his rice. Everybody else was oblivious, not caring, or too busy stuffing their faces with the wonderful food that Tohru had cooked specially for the dinner.

Yuki and Kyou had made a quick mental count when the doorbell rang, and both knew that it could only be Ayame at the door. He was the only one not there yet. And they had been hoping that he would conveniently _forget_ to come, or that somebody had conveniently forgot to tell him. Unfortunately, their prayers went unanswered.

Tohru was taking a long time in answering the door.

Shigure was smiling to himself, knowing full well what his two younger cousins were thinking. Personally, he was glad that Ayame had decided to show up, thinking of all the _fun_ they could have later that night. Perhaps they could even persuade Hatori¡K

Speaking of whom, Hatori was making a mental note to remind Ayame not to trouble others. He actually wanted to enjoy a vacation without Kyou and/or Yuki destroying their vacation site in the effort of punishing the Snake.

Tohru chose that moment to re-enter, assuaging Yuki and Kyou¡¦s thoughts that maybe Ayame had kidnapped her again for eating out. She was holding a snake.

A snake that was Ayame.

Tohru blinked in confusion as her hands were suddenly empty, Yuki was standing in front of her looking angry, and there was a snake-sized hole in the shoji screen.

A dull thud sounded from several metres away.

Shigure sighed and wailed, ¡§Why does everyone have to destroy my beautiful house?!¡¨

Hatori made a definite mental note to remind himself to remind Ayame. It was going to be a long dinner. It was going to be an even longer vacation.

* * * * *

Tohru stepped into the supermarket and pulled out the slip of paper Shigure had given her earlier that day, thankful that she had remembered to put it in her pocket. She smiled at everyone impartially. Dinner had gone relatively well. Kyou had stayed for the whole time, there were only two holes in the shoji screen and Kyou and Yuki had not fought at all throughout the meal. The incident where their chopsticks accidentally touched and Yuki threw his away did not count. Neither did Kyou¡¦s attempt ¡¥accidentally¡¦ create another hole in the shoji screen.

She unfolded the list.

Blinked once. Read it over again.

Blinked again. And read it over again just to make sure.

She wondered what Shigure wanted with all those items.

* * * * *

Author¡¦s notes: At last another chapter. ^^ Thank you to all the people who reviewed and gave me the motivation to continue. ^^

Anyway, I¡¦m actually supposed to be studying¡K ^^; but I¡¦m not sure what direction this is heading, especially as far as pairings go. It could easily become Yuki x Tohru. 

As for what was on Shigure¡¦s shopping list, I have some vague ideas. Any suggestions? XD


	3. Chapter Two

**All In The (Furuba) Family**

_Chapter Two_

* * * * *

Tohru¡¦s eyes grew bigger and bigger as she gathered all the items on Shigure¡¦s rather long shopping list. In fact, the ¡§few things¡¨ were starting to make her basket very heavy, and she had to drag it along with her as she moved from shelf to shelf. Luckily Yuki was waiting outside to help her carry the bags home.

Tohru stopped.

What was Yuki going to think about the strange items on the list. It would not do for Shigure to be murdered before they even went on vacation since she was sure Yuki would have a better idea of what all the items were really used for and definitely not approve.

¡§Chocolate sauce!¡¨ she hefted the biggest bottle she could see down since Shigure had specifically asked for a big bottle, underlined several times. ¡§Done!¡¨

Smiling brightly, she made her way to the cashier as fast as possible, lugging the heavy (and full) basket behind her.

* * * * *

¡§Sorry to keep you waiting, Sohma-kun!¡¨ Tohru smiled as she joined Yuki outside and handed him some of the bags.

In reply, the boy graced her with one of his rare, genuine smiles.

Then he frowned and glanced down at the plastic bags. ¡§Ano, Honda-san, why are the plastic bags tied up like that?¡¨ he eyed her suspiciously.

Tohru felt herself blush as she laughed nervously and racked her brain for a plausible excuse.

¡§Uhhh¡K umm¡K because I was afraid the contents would fall out, ne! And then Shigure-san would be unhappy!¡¨ she stammered as she tried to ignore Yuki¡¦s pointed look.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. But out of politeness (and respect, which he reminded himself that only he seemed to possess amongst his relatives) he refrained from further question, instead gesturing for them to walk home.

Tohru breathed a sigh of relief as Yuki turned to walk home. Making sure the knots were as fast as possible, she followed him.

*crack*

*thud*

Yuki turned his head around in alarm. All he saw was Tohru trying desperately to prevent all the contents of her bags from falling out. And also attempting to shield said contents from other people.

¡§Honda-san!¡¨ he hurried forward.

¡§Ah¡K Sohma-kun, it¡¦s okay! Nothing¡¦s wrong!¡¨ she told him in a rather stressed voice, her words a direct contrast to the items lying on the ground around her.

Yuki looked at them, his eyes widening.

¡§Ano¡K Honda-san,¡¨ he said in a tight, emotionless voice. ¡§Did Shigure ask you to buy that bottle of¡K _chocolate sauce_?!¡¨

He pointed to a big bottle of said object.

Tohru looked at him with wide eyes and nodded semi-guiltily.

¡§¡K And that bottle of¡K _whipped cream_?!¡¨ he pointed at an even bigger bottle. ¡§And that¡K that¡K¡¨ he trailed off in horror and disgust, pointing at the last object, something Tohru had never seen before and had no idea as to its purpose and function. She had been thinking of asking Shigure that.

Tohru looked at the glassy eyed expression of shock on Yuki¡¦s face. ¡§Uhh¡K hai.¡¨

To her surprise, Yuki started cursing.

Most of which Tohru did not understand.

¡§Umm¡K Sohma-kun¡K¡¨ she started hesitantly. ¡§Maybe we should go home first?¡¨

She eyed him guiltily.

A decidedly evil glint appeared in Yuki¡¦s eyes as he immediately agreed to her preposition and led the way with long, quick strides full of a purpose Tohru could easily guess.

It happened at least once a week anyway.

She could only pray that Shigure would be able to go for vacation in a _relatively_ unharmed state.

* * * * *

¡§**SHIGURE!!!**¡¨

Yuki yelled as he stormed into the kitchen and dumped the bags onto the kitchen table with enough force for the rest of the bags to split as well. Their contents flowed out and Yuki¡¦s eyes widened. He shouted his cousin¡¦s name more angrily.

A moment later, Shigure appeared bearing his usual smile to find Yuki sifting through the haphazard pile of items on the table.

¡§I told you, I¡¦m not sharing. If you want some you¡¦ll have to buy your own.¡¨

¡§Shigure!!!¡¨

Yuki glared at his cousin and grabbed the front of his clothes angrily, making to strangle the Dog.

¡§Explain _why_ you wanted Honda-san to buy these¡K _things_,¡¨ he ordered threateningly.

Shigure smiled nervously. ¡§Maybe if you stop choking me first¡K¡¨

Yuki let go and eyed his cousin warily as Shigure straightened and fussed with his clothes.

¡§You wanted to know why I want these things?¡¨ he asked semi-seriously.

Then his expression changed to one of wounded hurt as he lamented, ¡§How could you deprive me of the bare necessities of life?¡¨

Yuki jaw-dropped.

¡§_Bare necessities_?! These?!¡¨ he sputtered, eying the items on a table.

Shigure¡¦s smirk took on hentai proportions as he replied, ¡§With Ha-san and A-ya¡K¡¨

Yuki covered his ears hurriedly, blocking out the rest of the sentence and ignoring his cousin¡¦s laughter.

_I do not want to know!_

¡§And you intend on bringing all these things tomorrow?¡¨ he continued once he was sure Shigure would make no more hentai comments. There were, after all, certain things he did _not_ want to know about his brother. Or Shigure or Hatori for that matter.

Shigure nodded happily.

¡§But¡K!¡¨ Yuki would have said more if Hatori had not interrupted him. When the doctor had appeared, Yuki had no idea, but Hatori was leaning nonchalantly against the kitchen door, seemingly unaffected by their antics.

In reality however, Hatori was attempting to fend off a _very_ bad headache.

¡§Well¡K if he wants to, Yuki-kun, just let him be.¡¨

Yuki¡¦s jaw dropped for the second time that night.

And Shigure¡¦s actions were best left undescribed. Needless to say it resulted in him getting thrown out of his own house through the shoji screen. And not by Yuki.

* * * * *

By the time Shigure managed to (literally) crawl back into the kitchen, all the time staring mournfully at the Shigure-sized hole in the _new_ (just replaced) shoji screen, only Tohru was still present. She had been standing unnoticed in the corner throughout the whole exchange.

Now she looked questioningly at Shigure, ¡§Ano... Shigure-san, what are those for?¡¨

She indicated a pile of small boxes lying underneath the whipped cream.

Shigure looked down at her innocently smiling face and tried not to laugh.

He only semi-succeeded in making a sound that sounding something between a laugh, cough and choke.

Tohru looked at him in concern.

Finally, Shigure managed to control his laughter and with a big grin, patted her on the head as he went out.

¡§You¡¦ll find out when you grow up, so don¡¦t worry,¡¨ he advised her condescendingly, the grin still on his face.

One could practically see the question marks floating above Tohru¡¦s head.

* * * * *

Author¡¦s notes: I actually discarded this one, but new reviews prompted me to continue. This chapter was finished in the short space of a night, so there might be a few mistakes here and there. Anyway, thank you for the reviews. I hope you continue reading and like this chapter. ^^

As for what Tohru has been trying so hard to find out (the same thing that traumatised Yuki XD) I think you can all guess. ^^

And yes, I know they haven¡¦t left for vacation yet. Next chapter when I get round to it. ^^


	4. Chapter Three

All In The (Furuba) Family  
  
Chapter Three  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Wait a moment."  
  
All the people in the cramped into the hallway of Shigure's  
house stopped and turned to look at the owner of the voice.  
Five pairs of eyes turned to look at Kyou questioningly and with  
more than a hint of impatience. Shigure's hallway was small  
especially with the bags and assorted luggage cluttering it.  
Most of which belonged to either Ayame or Shigure. Both seemed  
to have brought their entire house along.  
  
"What, baka neko?" Yuki sighed as he threw Kyou an annoyed  
glared. He was naturally (and quite justifiably in his own  
opinion) in a bad mood. It was only eight thirty in the morning  
but he had already "saved" Tohru from Ayame's evil clutches  
twice, fought with Kyou once (over breakfast) and been subjected  
to yet another of his brother's crazy demands. This time Ayame  
wanted his younger brother to carry his luggage for him.  
  
Yuki snorted privately at that thought. If his brother wanted a  
servant so much he could just go and hire one himself. Goodness  
knew the Souma clan were far from unable to afford it.  
  
In short it was a very bad start to his day. And considering he  
lived with a hot-tempered cat and a perverted dog, Yuki had seen  
a great many of those. But today was beginning to far exceed  
all of them. except perhaps that time with Kagura.  
  
Yuki was beginning to understand why Hatori always carried a  
bottle of aspirin with him.  
  
Meanwhile whilst Yuki had been absorbed in his self-  
contemplation, four pairs of eyes were still staring at Kyou  
with a little bit more impatience and a lot more annoyance.  
  
Kyou bristled at his "nickname" but let it pass. He had more  
important things to worry about. "There are too many of us to  
fit into Hatori's car."  
  
Five pairs of eyes blinked back at him. Kyou watched as five  
pairs of eyes filled with growing horror as their owners  
realised the implication of that bland statement.  
  
"But."  
  
". that means that we'll have to."  
  
"Go in two cars," Momiji finished seriously. An unusually grim  
expression replaced his usual cheerful genki-ness. Like  
everyone else present his thoughts were running along one  
particular direction.  
  
Who was going to drive the other car?  
  
Before anyone could actually voice an answer to the question in  
everyone else's minds, the (repaired) shoji door was flung open  
with enough force to rattle the frame and a very happy Shigure  
practically bounced into the room followed by an equally happy  
Ayame. All eyes turned to look at them.  
  
Tohru beamed at both of them, "Good morning Shigure-san! Ayame-  
san!"  
  
The other four teenagers were staring at the object dangling  
from Shigure's hand with a mounting sense of dread.  
  
Please. please. no. Yuki thought fervently. Hatsuharu glanced  
at him in concern. This holiday was turning into a really bad  
idea. and they weren't even there yet.  
  
Shigure was holding a set of car keys. Perhaps sensing  
everyone's intent gaze focussed on the object in his hand, the  
Dog smirked evilly before beaming at everyone and announcing  
happily, "I'm driving today! The car's waiting outside already  
so hurry up!"  
  
Tohru looked at him questioningly, "I didn't know Shigure-san  
had a driver's license."  
  
"Of course I do!" the man in question replied breezily, ignoring  
the many disbelieving snorts and other noises (like gagging)  
coming from various corners of the room.  
  
"LIKE HELL YOU DO!!!" Kyou yelled loudly, his face a lurid shade  
of red that clashed (or matched depending on how you looked at  
it) his bright orange hair.  
  
"Ohohoho. Kyou-kun, go wash your mouth with soap!" a scandalised  
expression appeared on Shigure's face as he tapped Kyou on the  
head rather painfully with the end of his fan.  
  
Before Kyou could take offence at the Dog's words (and another  
hole appear in the shoji screen), Hatori stepped through the  
open doorway casting an inscrutable look at everyone. His eyes  
took in Kyou standing a few inches from Shigure clearly fuming  
and all but ready to throw the Dog out of the house, most likely  
through the shortest route possible, i.e. through the paper  
walls, and sighed. His headache was returning with a vengeance.  
  
But all Hatori said was "Is everyone ready? Ritsu and Kagura  
are already waiting in the car."  
  
". Ritsu-san?" Tohru's eyes widened slightly. She promptly  
turned red and chastised herself for her uncharitable thoughts  
of not wanting Ritsu along. The Monkey was, after all a Souma.  
He was just a bit. overexcited.  
  
". and Kagura?" an uncertain expression almost akin to fear  
crossed Kyou's face. Almost unconsciously he started casting  
furtive glances around him as if the girl would just pop up out  
of thin air. Or perhaps he was looking for a suitable escape  
route.  
  
Yuki sighed. This was certainly going to be an interesting  
vacation if nothing else.  
  
"Well! Are we going to stand here all day or can we get  
moving?" Shigure grinned at everyone, seemingly unconcerned with  
the fact that no one (but Ayame) shared his enthusiasm. The  
opposite was much truer. "They're going to get sick of waiting  
in the car."  
  
As if on cue, a loud wailing could be heard from outside.  
Though distinctly muffled, all the people in the house could  
make out the words "gomen nasai" repeated over and over again.  
  
They winced.  
  
Wordlessly everyone picked up their respective belongings and  
made their way out of the house. Due to the sheer amount of  
Shigure's baggage he had to make several trips and was the last  
person to leave the house. Glancing around to make sure no one  
was paying any attention to him, Shigure drew a piece of paper  
from the folds of his kimono and stuck it onto the door before  
locking it.  
  
The words "On Holiday!" were cheerfully printed across the sheet  
followed by a large smiley face. Shigure grinned.  
  
He turned back and rejoined the others where they were gathered  
around two identical cars.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Okay, who is sitting where?" Hatori asked as he surveyed the  
group. He noted that all of them with the exception of Ayame  
were huddled in a small group next to his car. He had just  
known it would come to this. Letting Shigure drive was already  
proving to be a bad solution.  
  
"Uhh. I'm sure we can all fit in here, Hatori-san!" poor Tohru  
tried to sound as cheerful as possible. She wasn't sure why no  
one wanted to sit in the other car, but was sure Souma-kun and  
Kyou-kun not to mention Momiji and the others had a very good  
reason. So she followed them.  
  
Next to her, Momiji nodded vigorously at her words. "We can use  
Shigure's car for the luggage."  
  
Hatori shook his head and made a mental note to charter a bus  
the next time. If there was a next time. "All right. Let's  
draw straws to decide."  
  
Hatori noticed Yuki looking at him rather strangely but ignored  
it. He personally didn't care what way they used as long as  
they could actually get going. Then he wouldn't have to deal  
with Shigure and Ayame for a few blessed hours. Maybe letting  
Shigure drive wasn't such a bad thing. After the initial  
hurdles of course.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Author's notes: After abandoning this to the fic dump for months  
I've unearthed it and added another chapter. Somehow feel this  
chapter isn't as hyper but it was written in about half an hour  
literally in the middle of the night. And the style is probably  
very different too due to the long time lapse.  
  
Are these people ever going to go on vacation? *snickers*  
Eventually. Their dysfunctionality is just slowing them down at  
the moment. But they're about to set off. ^______^ I'm beginning  
to feel sorry for the long-suffering ones like Hatori and Yuki.  
And Kyou seems rather OOC and Shigure too hyper. @_@ Ororo. in  
character-ness is just not my strong point. 


End file.
